I was invited to participate in another Twitter Taste Live event with a focus on lighter style crus. Full disclosure – it had been a long time since I had Beaujolais and those that I had were the mass market ones focused around a certain November release that I generally found to be pretty uninspired.
My session made me definitely want to take a closer look. We had four wines to try. The 09 Domaine Cheysson, Chiroubles; the 09 Henry Fessy, Brouilly; the 09 Charly Thevenet “Grain et Granit,” Regnie and the 09 Alain Coudert, Close de la Roilette, Fleurie. Three of the four wines were under $20 and were really interesting.
In the 09 Domaine Cheysson, Chiroubles, I tasted raspberry and red currant with some floral accents. For $18.99 a bottle, it was a very nice everyday affordable wine with more complexity than I expected.
The 09 Henry Fessy, Brouilly ($17) had a big earthy muskiness to it that didn’t reconcile on the nose with strawberry aroma. However, once I tried it, it was balanced.
One of my favorites – and imagine that – was the most expensive at $35.99 — the 09 Charly Thevenet “Grain et Granit,” Regnie. I tasted violet, big strawberry, cherry, raspberry, spice and eucalyptus. I also wanted this one to spend a little time in the decanter. I had it open for about an hour, but I think this is a wine that would evolve drastically from day one to day three. I, unfortunately, was leaving town for the paying gig, so I couldn’t experiment.
My other favorite was the 09 Alain Coudert, Close de la Roilette, Fleurie priced at $20. I tasted currant, cassis, chocolate and it had an almost velvet finish. It was very impressive for a wine priced at $20.
While I am a fan of Bordeaux, this tasting proved to me that you need to venture off the beaten path. These Beaujolais wines are a great value and once again prove that if you treat trying new wines as a journey of discovery, you will be rewarded most of the time.
